Push for Boost in Child, Youth Mental Health Funding

Why it matters

Across the United Nations system, the recognition of mental health as a fundamental human right has deepened over the past decade. Yet, despite growing global attention, no dedicated UN resolution has centered the mental health and well-being of children and youth as a distinct development, health, and human rights priority, nor does a unified narrative exist that fully addresses their distinct developmental needs.

While references to mental health have increasingly appeared across UN policy frameworks, language specifically focusing on children and youth remains limited. This absence perpetuates fragmented, siloed approaches and chronic underinvestment, particularly in prevention and early intervention, despite the evidence of scalable, cost-effective solutions.

Globally, it is estimated that 1 in 7 (14.3%) 10–19-year-olds experience mental health conditions , yet these remain largely unrecognized and untreated. Published data also highlight concerning increases in suicide rates across many countries among those aged 10 to 24 years. This is amplified by recently released global Mental Health Atlas data, which show that only 56 percent of countries have a distinct or integrated child and youth mental health policy or plan, while fewer than half of responding countries provide community based, school based, or other mental health services for children and adolescents.

To meaningfully address this urgent challenge, coordinated, cross-sectoral action is essential, spanning education, health, social protection, climate, digital, and culture sectors, and grounded in rights-based, child- and youth-inclusive frameworks that leave no one behind, including those in humanitarian and fragile contexts.

The policy gap

Despite increasing recognition of mental health across UN policy frameworks, children and youth remain largely absent from global commitments, data systems, and financing priorities. Gaps to fill to strengthen child and youth mental health include:

1. absence of dedicated resolutions on child and youth mental health;
2. lack of age-specific commitments within global frameworks;
3. missing participatory mechanisms ensuring young people's inclusion in shaping mental health policies and services; and
4. limited oversight and accountability tracking existing global policy and financing commitments on child and youth mental health.

A joint call to advance children and youth mental health policy

Elevate and resource child and youth mental health as a standalone global policy and investment priority, ensuring its explicit integration in future UN resolutions, human rights frameworks, and global monitoring mechanisms following the 2030 Agenda.

Foster a unified inter-agency and multi-stakeholder platform – bringing together UNESCO, UNICEF, UN Youth Office and WHO, and other relevant UN entities, alongside Member States, youth networks, and civil society partners – to strengthen global coherence, provide joint technical guidance, and align financing and accountability mechanisms for child and youth mental health across sectors.

Encourage Member States to adopt and implement national child and adolescent mental health strategies and policy, aligned with the WHO Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan, and the UNICEF and WHO Joint Programme on Mental Health and Psychosocial Well-being and Development of Children and Adolescents. Strategies and policies should include relevant human rights and disability inclusion guidance from the OHCHR, with a focus on community-based and rights-based approaches; as well as the 2023 UNESCO Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Sustainable Development, which underscores safe, inclusive and supportive learning environments as foundations for learners' overall well-being.

Ensure meaningful child and youth participation in the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of mental health policies and services – positioning them as equal partners, not beneficiaries, and building on existing UN youth engagement frameworks.